The Los Angeles Police Department has pledged to open an investigation into a claim that a TSA officer shot at LAX airport earlier this month lay on the ground bleeding for over half an hour as paramedics who could have helped stood by.

Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez
was shot in the chest at 9:20 a.m. on Nov. 1 when a gunman opened
fire inside a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. The
suspected shooter, Paul Ciancia, was neutralized five minutes
later, yet it took 28 minutes for paramedics to reach Hernandez,
who was lying about 20 feet from an exit door.

Two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity
told AP that paramedics were delayed because of a police order to
stay away from the area.

Multiple officers were seen checking on Hernandez during the time
before emergency personnel was allowed in, with one, a 26-year
veteran of the LAPD, saying more than once that Hernandez was
dead.

When paramedics were finally allowed into the area, they helped
Hernandez into a wheelchair and into a waiting ambulance. He was
pronounced dead at the hospital, although it remains unclear if
his life could have been saved had he received medical care
earlier.

“When somebody is shot and they’re bleeding to death,
lifesaving skills need to be implemented immediately, in a couple
minutes, and they’re very simple, pressure dressings,
tourniquets, adequate bandages to stop the bleeding,” said
Dr. Lawrence E. Heiskell, a physician and reserve police officer
who founded the International School of Tactical Medicine.

“I basically think there’s a lack of coordination between
entities at this airport. That lack of coordination may have led
to something that shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “We
may be talking about Office Hernandez as a survivor.”

One person tried to walk past the officer to Hernandez and was
told, “He’s dead,” to which they replied, “What do you
mean he’s dead? If he’s dead, whatever, we can’t make that
determination.”

The story has become a point of contention for TSA officers,
especially Victor Payes, who worked with Hernandez and serves as
the president of the local union.

It has yet to be determined whether TSA policy is to blame or if
police, fire, and other responding agencies failed to coordinate
their actions. Upon hearing Friday’s news, the head of the TSA
union told AP that the delay was “absolutely unacceptable.”

It is possible that the delay was not caused by incompetence, but
by safety policy. As mass shootings like the one in question
become less rare, authorities have no choice but to train for a
variety of situations they could suddenly experience.

Ciancia was shot four times by security officers. As travelers
tried to make their way to safety, there were reports of a
possible second shooter in the area. Officials were also worried
that there were bombs in the terminal.

Marshall McClain, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace
Officers Association, said the events on Nov. 1 are evidence of a
power struggle between police and fire officials. Police officers
are usually the first responders to an emergency of this sort
and, as such, fire and EMT crews are sometimes made to wait
longer than necessary.

McClain told AP that four command posts were set up directly
after the shooting, none of which were clear on which agency was
in charge of the scene.

He also reported speaking with multiple people involved in the
investigation who approached the officer standing in front of
Hernandez. A doctor must be the person to declare a person dead,
with decapitation the only exception to that rule.